It's a day of debuts and lineup shakeups as the Atlanta Braves close out their Seattle series Wednesday afternoon.
Jim Jarvis is getting the call straight into the fire. Called up from Triple-A Gwinnett this morning, the infielder will make his major league debut at shortstop, batting ninth in the series finale against the Mariners. Jarvis was acquired from the Detroit Tigers just before last year's trade deadline and has been turning heads in Gwinnett this season, slashing .305/.418/.445 with four homers, six doubles, and 20 RBIs in 33 games. With the infield set to be revamped in the coming weeks by the addition of Ha-Seong Kim, this is Jarvis's chance to carve out a role with the big league club.
There's also good news on the health front: Michael Harris II is back in left field and hitting cleanup, a promising sign for his quad. Mauricio Dubon patrols center again and hits fifth, while Mike Yastrzemski returns to right field in the seven hole. Behind the plate, it's another Sean Murphy day—he's hitting eighth, allowing Drake Baldwin to serve as the designated hitter from the leadoff spot.
On the mound, the Braves will face Mariners starter Bryan Woo for the first time. Only five players on Atlanta's roster have faced him before, all offseason additions. Dubon, who faced Woo frequently during his time in Houston, leads the way with 11 career at-bats against the righty, going 4-for-11 (.364) with a double. Yastrzemski is 2-for-8 with the only home run and three RBIs against Woo. Overall, Braves hitters are 7-for-25 (.280) against him with eight strikeouts and one walk.
For Seattle, Cal Raleigh is back as the designated hitter for the second straight day, hitting second. The Mariners made a few other lineup adjustments, inserting Connor Joe in right field and Jhonny Pereda behind the plate against left-handed starter Martin Perez. Four Mariners have 10-plus at-bats against Perez, but none are hitting better than .235 against him—including Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford.
Day baseball in the finale. It's shaping up to be a memorable afternoon in Seattle.